144 



They Avere sold at an average age of 101 days and had 

 attained an average live weight of 51 pounds (Atlanta 

 weights) . They ma^fe excellent gains to be born of mothers 

 that average only 95 pounds in weight. 



It might have been more profitable to have carried them 

 to a heavier weight, but that point could not be determined. 

 If they had been born earlier they could have been fed 

 longer and still been placed upon the early market. The 

 object was to sell them as early in the season as possible 

 and yet have a reasonable size. This is the reason why 

 earliness of birth is such an important question. When 

 warm weather comes on the price of mutton declines, as 

 people do not like mutton during the warm months, so 

 it is to the advantage of the owner to let the lambs go at 

 the earliest possible date. And, too, when they are sold' 

 in the early spring the danger of losses from summer dis- 

 eases is also considerably lessened. The earliest bunch was 

 sent to Atlanta, April 23rd, 1907. The Station has suc- 

 ceeded, during the last two years, in getting some lambs 

 ready for the market by the middle of April. Two of the 

 bunch sold for nine cents a pound live weight, while three 

 sold for eight and one-half cents a pound. The remaining 

 ones were sent on later and sold for but eight cents a pound. 

 The late ones were, in fact, better lambs than the first onos. 

 but the weather was becoming warm and there was not as 

 great a demand for them as there was for the early ones. The 

 l>est prices prevail just before Easter time. The Station 

 has not been able to secure as good prices for lambs as 

 have some farmers of the slate. A picture in another part 

 of the bulletin -shows some lambs which were sold, in April, 

 1908, in Birmingham, for ten cents a pound live weight. 



It must be remembered, too, that these lambs were not 

 fancy bred ones. They were just common lambs. In fact, 

 1wo of them were out of scrub mothers by a pure bred 

 Southdown ram. The others were out of grade mothers. 



